


this could be the start

by kiyala



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3236249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Courfeyrac is in love with the guy who always takes the same train as him in the morning. Even if they've never spoken to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this could be the start

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [annaroserae](http://annaroserae.tumblr.com/)'s prompt of Combeferre losing his favourite book on the train and Courfeyrac being the one to return it.

Courfeyrac is in love. 

He doesn't know the guy's name, he's never even spoken to him, or done anything but smile at him when their eyes meet, but Courfeyrac knows it's love. Or it _could_ be love, if Courfeyrac could ever gather the nerve to speak to the guy. He's never going to make fun of Marius for the way he fell in love with Cosette ever again. 

They take the same train to work every morning. The guy is usually standing, a hand on a nearby pole to keep him upright, the other hand carrying whichever book he's reading that day. He always has earphones in and gets off the train a couple of stops before Courfeyrac, so they've never really had the chance to talk. Courfeyrac supposes the earphones are to shut the rest of the world out, so he'll settle for the way they occasionally glance at each other and the smiles they exchange. Cosette thinks it's cute. Marius wracks his brain to find a way to help Courfeyrac, the way Courfeyrac helped him try and find Cosette back when he had nothing more than a vague description, apologising when he can't come up with anything. Courfeyrac assures them that it's fine, he doesn't love people to be loved in return. He's happy just to see Train Guy every morning.

"I swear, I have never met anyone else who _enjoys_ having crushes, the way you do," Cosette tells him fondly, putting her mug of coffee down and kissing his cheek. "You'd better go, before you miss your train."

"Right." Courfeyrac kisses her cheek in return, then does the same to Marius on his way out. "Have a good day!"

"You too," his friends chorus, as he shuts the door behind him.

He makes his way to the station with plenty of time to spare, as usual. He gets on the train and smiles at Train Guy, noting that he looks tired yet again. It's Thursday, and Courfeyrac thought he looked tired on Monday, but he's been slowly wearing down all week. There are bags under his eyes, visible even behind the thick frames of his glasses, and his shoulders are sloped downwards. Courfeyrac wants to talk to him more than ever, to ask if he's okay, to find out what's burdening him like this, but the train is crowded as always, keeping them too far apart to talk, and Train Guy has his earphones in. Courfeyrac sighs, and tries not to stare as the train keeps moving.

As the train starts getting closer to the city and people start getting off, Courfeyrac notices the book that Train Guy is reading. Unlike most of the books, this one is old and battered. There are a couple of layers of clear tape holding the spine together and the edges of the cover are worn, a little folded, and Courfeyrac guesses that it must be one of his favourite books. He confirms it when he sees Train Guy's fond smile as he reads, similar to the ones Courfeyrac saves for old friends. 

The train begins to slow as it approaches Train Guy's stop, and he shuts his book, putting it into his bag. It's only because Courfeyrac is watching that he sees the bag isn't zipped up properly. Someone else jostles it on their way past and the book falls out, onto the carriage floor. Courfeyrac instinctively dives for it, snatching it up before anyone else steps on it, apologising as he gets in someone's way. By the time he stands up, however, Train Guy is gone, clearly not having noticed that he's lost his book. 

"Crap," Courfeyrac whispers to himself, shoulders slumping as the doors slide shut and the train starts moving again. 

He looks down at the book, eyes going wide when he realises that it's a copy of _Good Omens_ , though the cover looks different to his. He holds it to his chest to keep it safe, until he's in the safety of his office and can take a proper look at it. The book feels fragile in his hands, the pages yellowed with age and when he opens it up, there's messy writing declaring it property of _H. Combeferre_. Courfeyrac smiles to himself, glad that at least he now has a name for the face. 

Turning the page, Courfeyrac's breath catches in his throat when he sees that it's been signed by _both_ authors. He logs onto his computer, flipping through the book as everything loads. There's writing throughout the book, with different bits underlined and comments written throughout. The handwriting isn't as messy as it was on the first page and Courfeyrac realises that Combeferre must have written his name into the book when he was young. He loads his browser and goes to google, checking the publication date of the book. He's surprised to realise that it was published in 1990, that it's already been so long. A little more searching tells Courfeyrac that this copy of the book is an old one. Judging by its condition, it's well-loved and he knows that Combeferre will probably be upset when he realises it's gone.

No matter, Courfeyrac thinks to himself, slipping the book into his satchel for safe keeping. He'll see Combeferre on the train tomorrow morning, so he'll return it then.

Except the next day, he's not on the train.

Courfeyrac looks around the carriage, but can't see Combeferre anywhere. He frowns, clutching his bag close to his side. Maybe Combeferre is sick. Hopefully he'll be there on Monday, so Courfeyrac will just have to hold onto the book for the weekend too.

The rest of Courfeyrac's day feels off and he can't quite put his finger on why, until he's on his lunch break and realises that he's still thinking about how he didn't see Combeferre in the morning. He shakes his head at himself, feeing ridiculous. He's already talked to Marius and Cosette about the book, and about his plans to return it. Cosette was encouraging him to use it as the opportunity Courfeyrac has always been hoping for to actually _talk_ to Combeferre and he'd been looking forward to that, he'd woken up before his alarm and everything. So he's disappointed. It's fine. He'll just have to wait until next week, it's not the end of the world.

He forces himself to concentrate for the rest of the day, staying late to make up for his lack of productivity in the morning. It's a good hour and a half after his usual finishing time when he finally shuts his computer down for the weekend and leaves, walking back to the station. With peak hour over, it means that there actually seats available and he sits, taking his phone out and texting Cosette and Marius to let them know that he's finally on his way home. 

At the next stop, Courfeyrac looks up from his phone just in time to see Combeferre walk through the doors. He gasps, getting to his feet before he can second-guess himself. 

"Um. Combeferre?" 

He looks up, frowning with confusion before he sees Courfeyrac. "…Oh."

"Hi, I'm Courfeyrac. I usually catch the train with you in the mornings—"

"I know that," Combeferre says softly, walking over to him. "You know my name?"

"Oh, right." Courfeyrac reaches into his satchel, pulling out Combeferre's book. "Here. You dropped this yesterday. Your name was written on one of the pages."

Combeferre's eyes go wide and he reaches for it, taking it from Courfeyrac with trembling hands. "Thank you. I… wow, _thank you_. I think I need to sit down."

Realising that they're both standing in the aisle, Courfeyrac steps aside, sitting down. He's glad when Combeferre sits down beside him, still looking at the book in disbelief. 

"Are you okay?" Courfeyrac asks carefully.

"Yeah." Combeferre clears his throat. "I'm just… a little overwhelmed. It's okay, you can laugh at me, but I really love this book. It means a lot to me."

"I can tell," Courfeyrac replies with a smile. "I noticed that you got it signed."

"Yeah. I went to a couple of conventions where the authors attended. The lines were long, but completely worth it." Combeferre gives Courfeyrac a tentative smile that widens when he isn't laughed at. "Have you read the book?"

"I have," Courfeyrac nods. "I bought the Aziraphale and Crowley covers and gave one to my flatmate as an excuse to keep them together." 

With a quiet laugh, Combeferre looks back down at his book. "This has been my comfort book since I was a kid. I've had a stressful week, so I thought that I'd take it with me yesterday. I was a mess when I realised that it was missing yesterday… I honestly didn't think I'd ever see it again. Thank you for your kindness, Courfeyrac. I really appreciate it."

"It's really no problem. I'm just glad I could get it back to you."

"I don't suppose I could take you out to dinner?" Combeferre asks with a hopeful smile. "As a token of my appreciation?"

Courfeyrac is certain that his cheeks are going red. "You really don't have to."

"I understand," Combeferre replies, nodding, and his fading smile makes Courfeyrac think that he understands the completely wrong thing.

"I mean—that's not to say that I wouldn't like to go out to dinner with you. Books and everything else aside. If that's something you wanted to do—"

"It is," Combeferre tells him, and the smile is back. "I keep seeing you every morning and wanting to say something to you, but I never know _what_ and as much as I wish we started talking under completely different circumstances… I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? I always ramble when I'm nervous."

Smiling, Courfeyrac bumps their shoulders together. "How about this: let's go to dinner together and split the bill. We'll talk about our favourite books, maybe get to know each other a bit, and see how things go from there."

"That sounds good," Combeferre replies, smiling. "Really good, actually. I'll just text my flatmate to know that I won't be home for dinner."

Courfeyrac does the same, letting Marius and Cosette know that he's bumped into Combeferre and is going out to dinner with him. He laughs when Cosette immediately replies with, _Oooooooooh! It's about time you spoke to him :)_

Combeferre's phone buzzes with a message as well and he snorts quietly when he reads it, before turning to Courfeyrac with a small grin. "Enjolras—my best friend—wanted to thank you for returning my book, because he had to deal with me breaking down over it."

Laughing, Courfeyrac puts his phone away. "One of my flatmates is happy that I'm finally talking to you. I've been wanting to forever, I just never wanted to disturb you when you had your earphones in. Didn't want to be pushy or rude."

"Oh." Combeferre's smile grows fond. "Well, for the record, I wouldn't have minded, if it was you."

Biting his lip, Courfeyrac looks away before his face can turn beet red. He's never teasing Marius about how easily he blushes again, either. "There's a good Thai restaurant we could go to, if we get off at the next station."

"I'm more than happy to let you lead the way," Combeferre replies, putting his book in his bag and making sure that it's safely closed this time before following Courfeyrac out of the train. 

They walk side by side, stealing glances at each other, smiling when they're caught. Courfeyrac clears his throat as the restaurant comes into view. "Hey, so… just to clarify before I potentially make a complete fool of myself. Are we considering this a date?"

"I'd like to," Combeferre replies, carefully. He reaches for Courfeyrac's hand, but doesn't take it into his just yet. "Is that what you want?"

"Yeah." Courfeyrac grins. He holds Combeferre's hand, giving it a small squeeze. It makes Combeferre smile, and Courfeyrac is pretty sure that his heart is going to burst with happiness. "That's definitely what I want."


End file.
